PSA for teachers and librarians! The Library of Congress has an awesome collection of FREE #vintage posters you can download. #LibraryLove #SchoolLibrary #SchoolLibrarian #Teacher #ClassroomDecor #FreeResourcesForTeachers #RaisingReaders #Booksky #FreePrintable #FreePrintables

“One in five children in our country is food insecure. And that reflects not a poverty of resources but a poverty of moral courage and imagination.” @warnock.senate.gov @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social delivery before the end of the school year! An awesome kid went home with a signed copy.

This illustration of Edward Lear’s “There was an Old Man of Dunluce” limerick hangs in my story lab to inspire me to excellence and silliness in storytelling! The best part is my dad painted it ❤️ #kidlit #kidillustration #tallenteddad #creativefamily

I've been a writer for almost two decades, first in women's lifestyle magazines and then in marketing. I expected that experience to count for more when it came to writing a novel, and when it didn't, I got frustrated.

New book alert! Signed LITTLE BIG MAN by @varianjohnson.bsky.social and @reggiebrownart.bsky.social is waiting in the @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social! Give culturally diverse books (like this one) to culturally diverse communities through #read4unity. Go to read4unity.com/give $5=1 book!

Get ready for giggles in the bus line! Signed LITTLE FREDDY TWO PANTS by #drewdaywalt is in our @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social! 👖👖 Share books with culturally diverse communities at read4unity.com/give $5=1 book #kidlit #literacymatters #literacyforall #booksky

Taking a break from reading and writing books to build some books. #bookishlife #legolife #booksky

“#Picturebooks are for everybody.” - @mrschureads.bsky.social  I just dropped one of Johns books off in a #Read4Unity @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social#Picturebooks#Read4UnityThis beautiful, signed story is waiting for an awesome kid to pick it up in the bus line this week. #kidlit #booksky

I think my printer is uses a Magic 8 Ball to decide which days are for printing. Today? Outlook not so good. 🎱

Happy #DropEverythingAndReadDay! Nobody wrote kid emotions like #BeverlyCleary. I still go back to the Ramona books regularly to learn and for cozy nostalgia. I never got to meet her, but I was grateful to find this signed copy on EBay for my collection. #DEARday #kidlit #kidlitauthor #amwriting

Do we still #flashbackfriday? Because I just picked these up at the thrift store. My sister and I regularly rented the BBC Chronicles of Narnia on VHS at Blockbuster!

“We could play like we invented the game. Kept the fans on the edge of their seats.”- @kadirnelson.bsky.social, We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball I picked up this book @nlbmuseumkc.bsky.social, and it’s gorgeous. The words, the illustrations, all of it.  #booksky #kidlit #baseball

Let’s inspire the next generation of innovation! Dropping off some activity books at one of our Clarkston #read4unity @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social  locations!  Share culturally diverse books for $5/book at read4unity.com/give #welcomerefugees

This Refugee Sewing Society bag is the perfect size! It’s just right for my e-reader and all of the other everyday essentials. I also love supporting our new neighbors as they become self sufficient. #welcomerefugees #booksky #bookish #bookworm #bookaccessories refugeesewingsociety.com

Many of our friends in Clarkston are #ELL, so I mostly put #picturebooks in the Jolly ES @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social, but I have to sneak the occasional #middlegrade in there…especially when it’s @kwamembalia.bsky.social books! Share culturally diverse books for $5/book at read4unity.com/give

I started reading JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON by @gillianmauthor.bsky.social. The 1st scene was in Nando’s, so I had to pause and relocate to the appropriate setting. Thanks to #TSNTYAW for introducing me to Gillian, and thanks to Nando’s for opening a driving-distance location last month! #booksky

Refreshment + Reading break during #Read4Unity @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social deliveries in Clarkston #welcomerefugees #readingforall #booksforall #booksky Provide free access to culturally diverse books for $5/book at read4unity.com/give

WORDS + ART Two of my favorite things collide! Art by the insanely talented Anthony Johnson Seen at The Coastal Discovery Museum

This was the original story lab! I folded the French doors around the corner, tossed pillows on the floor, and wrote. It has come a long way from the days my parents were deep in the throws of renovation, the wood all chipped paint, and the walls primed drywall. It’s beautiful now, but I don’t fit.

“She had often drunk a quiet bottle of ginger-beer in there: the old bottles made it look more like a smuggler’s cave.” —THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW Doing a little spring cleaning, and I found the ginger beer bottle from my trip to the Eagle & Child Pub where C.S. Lewis often met with his writing group.

You know what’s better than finding the $5 bill you forgot in your jacket pocket? Finding the Just Add Honey tea you forgot about while spring cleaning ❤️🫖 #blackownedbusiness #blackownedatlanta #womanownedbusiness #womaownedatlanta #teatime

Step into a good book! ! 🐾📚 Had to restock HUDSON AND TALLULAH by @annakangbooks.bsky.social  and @christopherweyant1.bsky.social at the Jolly Elementary @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social because the last copies went so fast!  #WelcomeRefugees #KidLit #Read4Unity

Do you know about the pack horse librarians of Appalachia? Learn more about these bookish icons for #womenshistorymonth #booksky #fundlibraries

I was making a list of little things that bring me joy, and one of them was the straw dispensers with a lever. So my husband bought one and filled it with pencils for the story lab. He’s the best. #AmWriting #AmWritingKidlit #AuthorLife #Booksky

My kid has reached an age where most things aren’t cool anymore. I had to drag him to this library event, but he immediately became deeply invested in @chrisgrabenstein’s first Mr. Lemoncello book. Books are magic…even for adolescents ❤️📚 #booksky #kidlit #librarylove #fundlibraries

THE SWIFTS by @bethatintervals.bsky.social=my favorite modern #middlegrade reads As an aspiring #kidlit author, the quality of writing is delightful & intimidating. Loved seeing her twice on her U.S. tour (1st with a friend & 2nd with my son.) She personalized the book with my dictionary name IYKYK.

*Signs ups for Cece Lyra’s course on starting your story in the right place and then panic rewrites the first chapter before submitting it for feedback* #nomoreprologue #tsntyaw #kidlit #booksky

How much of a #kidlit nerd am I? @peterhreynolds.bsky.social liked a photo I posted on my personal Instagram a few years back, and I immediately texted my mom a screenshot of the notification. #booksky #bookstar #booknerd

“It started as vignettes of curmudgeonly octopus hot takes, and I thought, ‘I can’t have a whole book of octopus hot takes,’ although I think some of you might read that book.”-@shelbyvanpelt.bsky.social It’s me! I would read that book! 🙋🏻‍♀️ #booksky

There’s something lovely about pressing “return early” on @libbyapp.bsky.social when someone else is waiting.  I feel like I’m passing along the book I just finished and saying, “Oh, friend, you’re going to love this!” #kidlit #library #booksky

“The sky is a refuge for everybody. No barriers, no borders.”—The Refuge by Sandra Le Guen. This beautiful book about a refugee family is just right for the @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social at Refuge Coffee. Give diverse books at read4unity.com/give. #kidlit #welcomerefugees

Before—>After @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social outside Ethne Health in Clarkston, GA! The staff of Ethne serve the health needs of the community of Clarkston in 40+ languages! Providing ethnically diverse books for their clientele fits right in to the mission of Read 4 Unity.

DID YOU KNOW…60+ languages are spoken in the 1.1 square mile of Clarkston, GA. That's a new language every 100 square feet! Read 4 Unity has distributed more than 10,000 culturally diverse books in communities like Clarkston. This week, I made my first round of deliveries as a volunteer!

I’m volunteering with Read 4 Unity to be little free librarian in Clarkston, GA—the most diverse square mile in America! This is the first load of diverse books I’ll be distributing to our libraries around town. Since the program started, reading scores improved in the elementary school ❤️ 📚 #kidlit

He was 6, and it was only our second Christmas together. I bought him a book about ocean animals because it was on sale. He quit opening presents and sat down to read. He’s in high school now and planning to study marine biology in college. He still has the book. #kidlit #raisingreaders

Kicking off a new year with a throwback!

2024 has been a good year for reading! @thestorygraph.com

I planned to spend the break between Christmas and the New Year making meaningful progress on my middle grade novel, so naturally I distracted myself by writing a picture book.

Jan Brett is rolling in style on this book tour! ❤️

One of the perks of being a writer is you get to write off the most wonderful things as research expenses!

Finished reading just in time for an island adventure in the lowcountry!

Pro tip: Instead of an Amazon wish list, share a Pinterest board with your significant other. Last Christmas I got this Narnia sweatshirt from Etsy, and I got to go behind the scenes and meet a penguin at the Georgia Aquarium. Can’t get either of those on Amazon!

Especially when read in Grover voice!

Baking and world building with @manuscriptacademy.bsky.social and editor Sarah Guan!

Didn't want to break the spine on Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri before gifting a signed copy to my mom. Instead, I checked out the audio book from my library and listened while I built the LEGO typewriter I got for my birthday. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ for both the book and the LEGO build!

Dottie Mae is the best writing partner…though she often sleeps on the job. #tripod